It’s rare you meet someone in this business who doesn’t realize that adherence is a wildly costly problem. And it’s also rare you meet someone who hasn’t been involved in some more or less unsuccessful attempt to improve it. But now might be the time to transform pessimism into optimism. First, we’re starting to understand non-adherence better and if you understand the problem it makes it possible to solve for. And secondly, value based payments make the stakes higher. Today, I speak with Tom Kottler, CEO of HealthPrize.

Tom Kottler is co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of HealthPrize Technologies, which uses gamification, behavioral economics and consumer marketing concepts to engage and motivate patients. HealthPrize works with top and emerging life science companies to inspire patient loyalty, maximize medication adherence and improve health literacy. Kottler has led multiple high-growth organizations during his career, including Advanced BioHealing, which was acquired by Shire for $750 million, and MedAptus, an innovative healthcare IT company based in Boston, Mass.

00:00 What ‘Adherence’ really means.
02:00 The transformation from “compliance” to “adherence.”
02:30 The single, costliest problem in healthcare.
04:30 Undefined Patient Segments.
05:45 Why Patient Adherence is still a problem.
08:50 Why Adherence is a problem of perception.
09:20 EP134 Melissa McCool & EP138: Andrea LaFountain
10:15 Making Healthcare interesting.
10:40 The three types of Non-Adherence: Primary, 90 Day Cliff, Secondary Non-Adherence.
12:40 Educating Patients.
12:45 “Adherence isn’t a cost problem, it’s a value problem.”
13:30 Being a Patient’s “buddy.”
14:50 “Taking medication is a very lonely thing.”
15:45 “One of the things we don’t do enough of is support people.”
19:30 “Pharma is an entrenched business.”
24:10 “Everything is coming around to Adherence.”
26:00 The difference between a good outcome and a bad outcome.
29:35 Finding common financial ground to help patients.
31:30 You can learn more at www.healthprize.com